TL

gengwall, I’m going to respectfully disagree with you on some things in your outline. While I recognize some careful thought in it, I also see some problems.

First some foundational thoughts. God stated the punishment for disobeying Him clearly and repeatedly to both the human and his woman. Disobedience would bring death. God’s punishments are not the same as a human parent spanking a child to dissuade him/her from doing wrong. Basically, God does not punish. God judges and rewards according to the bent of what was done. It is more in line with and similar to reaping what we sow. So no more reward for disobedience than death was due to humanity for their disobedience. Death is sufficient; in fact more than sufficient. It’s all part of a supernatural plan to produce godly seed, and godly people for God. God does not go on and on and add punishments upon punishments just because He is upset with them. He is clear. He was clear. Disobey this important test (but not just a test because it had to do with life everlasting and knowledge of good and evil), and there would be bad results, they would die. God did not say that they would also be punished in various unstated ways. They were clearly warned.

The serpent (and Satan) was not warned. They jumped into the picture on their own. The serpent as the cleverest of all creatures acted on his own willing initiative (though I believe with Satan’s help) and cooked up a scheme to cause and encourage the humans to disobey. Likely, all the heavens heard God’s warnings to the humans not to eat. The serpent (and Satan) wanted the humans to disobey. He acted with malice, great malice. God judged him and rewarded him with a curse that really was not equal to the judgment the serpent caused the humans to bring upon themselves, but would last equally throughout history. Serpents would from then on slither in the dirt on their bellies. This was a just reward. And because Satan had participated in making himself an enemy of the race of humans God had created in His image, then God would say that now Satan would become the enemy of the future Messiah and that the Messiah would win. Bruising the head was akin to crushing it IMO.

When God addressed the woman, He did not phrase it as a curse. Neither did He say, “because you have done this”. These are both formulae for a legal statement. Instead God warned the woman what would come. All of what was said to the woman was/is a result of death. Pain, toil, travailing, etc. are all part of death, not part of life. In heaven all pain, toiling, tears, travailing, torments, etc. will be done away with. They are part of death and something not experienced in Eden. Mashal, is what the husband would respond to the woman’s turning and yearning toward the man, and means harsh rule or domination. This is also part of the result of death of their spirits and living in a dying body.

When God addressed the man, He used both formulae of “because you have:”, and “cursed is”. But God did not curse the man, and instead cursed the ground which would again affect the serpent who would be crawling on his belly on it for all of his life on earth. (remember when Christ cursed the fig tree for not producing?) IMO, this is the place we need to put our brains to work to wonder about.

1. What does God mean by ba’avurekha, on account of you, or for your sake?
2. Is this something to protect the man and humans from the serpents?
3. Are not thorns and weeds part of death, just like flies are born from death?